hellebore
Americannoun
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any of numerous plants of the genus Helleborus in the buttercup family, several of which, as the Christmas rose, are cultivated for their foliage and clusters of flowers as well as their tolerance of shade: all Helleborus species are toxic.
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any of several poisonous or medicinal substances extracted or prepared from these plants.
noun
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any plant of the Eurasian ranunculaceous genus Helleborus, esp H. niger (black hellebore), typically having showy flowers and poisonous parts See also Christmas rose
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any of various liliaceous plants of the N temperate genus Veratrum, esp V. album, that have greenish flowers and yield alkaloids used in the treatment of heart disease
Etymology
Origin of hellebore
First recorded before 1000; Old English elleborum, from Latin (h)elleborus, (h)elleborum, reinforced by Old French ellebre, elebore, Middle English el(l)ebre, eleure, or directly from Medieval Latin eleborus, from Greek (h)elléboros; further origin uncertain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I love mixing these green glasses with an unexpected color tablecloth,” she said about the pink-and-yellow paisley fabric, a vintage Indian textile that complements the peonies, hellebore and rhododendron arranged in the centerpiece.
From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2022
In 1954, after foraging in the woods around the Stony Point artists’ colony in upstate New York, Cage began to feel unwell after eating poisonous hellebore, which he had mistaken for the similar skunk cabbage.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 19, 2020
In time, they couldn’t bear to leave it each day, so they used it as a base for their wholesale nursery specializing in the perennial plant named the hellebore.
From Washington Post ● May 21, 2018
SAT-SUN Celebrate the beginning of spring with thousands of snowdrops, crocus, heather, hellebore, and other early spring flowers in the garden, plants for sale; 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2017
Powdered hellebore will hinder their progress, but by far the most effective weapons are the finger and thumb—gloved, if you insist.
From Making a Rose Garden by Saylor, Henry H. (Henry Hodgman)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
